Sabres miss their safety net

‘”In Ryan’s case, you can’t dismiss the fact that he’s missed,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “At the same time, you don’t like to put any excuses out there that he’s the reason we’ve played [below] .500 hockey in his absence. He’s a key part of our team, and I think that in the room and on the ice he’s a big part of our hockey club. We all know that.”‘